‘It’s not morbid entertainment – we’re covering serious issues’
Hannah, who lives in Buckinghamshire, and Suruthi, from Hertfordshire, met four years ago at a party, where they discovered their mutual love of true crime. Hannah,
30, says, “My housemate was having a party, and he invited Suruthi. We’d never met before, but we got a little drunk and bonded over our love of true-crime podcasts. We spoke about the unsolved murder of JonBenét Ramsey – the sixyear-old beauty queen who died at home in Atlanta, USA.
“We realised we both loved exploring the spookier side of
life, and working out what drives someone to do something so awful. Not many people were into podcasts back then, so to find someone who listened to the same ones as me felt like fate. We decided that night to start a podcast together.”
The pair bought a £10 microphone and began recording in a cupboard under Hannah’s stairs. Suruthi, 31, says, “We released a show a week – which was hard work, but we loved it and couldn’t believe it when people started listening. We picked the cases we would cover in a pretty ad-hoc way. We just wanted to tell stories that interested us.” But Hannah and Suruthi insist that they don’t try to investigate the crimes they cover. Suruthi says, “When it comes to cold cases, we make it clear that we’re just analysing evidence that’s already out there.
“The web sleuths in The Vanishing At The Cecil Hotel thought they were investigating Elisa Lam’s death – but they were getting their information from second-hand and unverified sources, or trying to create theories from police reports. That’s not investigating a crime. We’re very careful not to sensationalise or put too much weight on specific details, as that’s when it can get dangerous and encourage vigilantism.”
And while critics argue that the true-crime genre is insensitive to victims and their families, the pair disagree. Suruthi says, “We are always very respectful, and we don’t just reel off a story full of grizzly details – the conversations we’re having are important. “We were one of the only podcasts to talk about the murder of Stephen Lawrence, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer. It was important to talk about Stephen’s death, to contextualise what was going on at the time. We’ve also spoken about femicide in Mexico, where 98 per cent of cases go unprosecuted.
“We’ve never had a victim or their family have a problem with our podcast – but we have had messages of support. Jeni Haynes is an Australian woman who was abused by her father, and she developed 2,000 different personalities to cope with the psychological effects of her abuse. It’s believed to be the first case where a victim has testified in their other personalities and secured a conviction. Jeni contacted us to say how thankful she was that we’d covered her case. I was in tears when I read her message. Some might view true crime as morbid entertainment, but it’s a way to discuss serious issues going in our world.”
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